Rebecca Rogers, 36, from Wilmington, North Carolina, was at a friend’s apartment for an evening barbecue dinner earlier in August.
The mother-of-two decided to help clean out a grill they had been using which was stationed at the apartment complex’s patio.
Not realising the grill was still lit, she opened the lid and a fireball unexpectedly hit her face and torso, while hot flames engulfed her legs and feet below her knees burning all her skin off.
Screaming in pain, Rebecca raced to her friend’s apartment and they immediately called the ambulance.
She was rushed to the emergency room at a local hospital but was soon transferred to the intensive care unit at the Jaycee Burn Centre in Chapel Hill for a week.
Rebecca suffered first and second degree burns all over her body which required skin grafts, and doctors had to surgically remove large amounts of her skin tissue.
She told Jam Press: “After the skin graft surgery it was very hard to move.
“I had to have help just going to the restroom and showering.
“Now I am dealing with having to wear compression garments and removing them numerous times a day to put ointment on the burns.
“It’s not ideal to say the least.
“Emotionally its very hard, I cant do everything I was normally able to do and have needed a great amount of help with just normal everyday tasks.”
Rebecca’s mother has since set up a Go Fund Me page for her daughter to help pay off occupational therapy costs and any additional adjustments to her home making it more accessible for her as she continues the recovery process.
Rebecca is left with scars all over her body and still suffers from excruciating pain on a daily basis.
She said: “Now I am trying to have the resemblance of normality even though thats really going to be a dream for a while. I am still healing with large red burn marks all over my body.
“As for someone who modelled in the past, thats very hard on me.
“I have been very lucky to have numerous friends and family visit, and help me with daily tasks such as grocery shopping and laundry.”
Her recovery process will take between nine to 12 months, but Rebecca hopes to soon return back to her normal life and take care of her two children, Timothy, 20 and Nikolas, 10.
Rebecca said: “I would really like to be able to wear shorts and t-shirts again.
“But seriously, I would like to never have nerve pain in my arms and legs. To go back to normal.
“To be able to go to my sons soccer games and not have to cover up with long sleeves and pants and an umbrella because I cant be in the sun.
“I can tell you this. No more gas grills ever!!!”
She added: “With all struggles in life I like to think positively and say to myself, this too shall pass. The thing about life?
“Everything is in a constant movement of change. So even though this has severely disrupted my life, I know that it wont forever. And if nothing else, this has taught me patience.”
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